There are claimed to be 200 Arabian leopards remaining in the wild (most sources suggest the number is more like 120). This subspecies has suffered a decline in the last 120 years of between 90 and 98% (estimates on population size from the 19th century).
This population is spread across 3 countries with Oman and Yemen thought to have around 50 leopards each. Saudi Arabia has an estimated 20 leopards -though this may be overly positive, with none having been seen since 2014. While found in Israel until recently, the last confirmed sighting was in 2007, with this leopard found dead in 2009.
Bees across much of Europe have not had an easy time of things in the last few decades, and that has been caused by a variety of things, including: pesticides, climate change, disease, climate change, parasites and nutrition deficiency just to name a few.
Should this new invader spread, it may well be the last straw for our bees across many areas.
Not only is it likely to compete for pollen with local bees, but the bees are also likely to carry various diseases, which while might hinder their health could kill our bees (this is often the case, as with squirrel pox, which kills the native red squirrels fast, but grey squirrels are often immune).
Initially only found in parts of Asia, it is now found around the middle east, and parts of Africa as well.
Having been found near a shipping cargo hub, it is feared that this is how it arrived. If this is true, it seems likely, that others might find their way all over the place through the same method.
The winters are mild in this location, leading to the insects surviving the winter, an advantage that more northerly European destinations have – though climate change is also seeing this advantage reducing, and an increasing number of invasive species growing out of control.
This is the place were beavers first appeared in 2008, though were only fully recognized in around 2013. A full study on the impact of these animals on the river, was launched in 2014 and after 10 years it has reported. The results are incredible, with much of the local environment totally changed.
Space along the river was given over to the beavers, and they have taken full advantage. Their dams mean that in storm conditions, surges are 30% smaller, allowing the river to cope, and not flood towns along its route. An estimated 24 million litres of water is now stored in these beaver areas. This has in turn created areas where toads, water voles dragon-flies and even otters are able to thrive.
Similar impacts have occurred in other places where beavers returned such as Scotland.
Clearly, we should be looking to facilitate the spread of the beavers, and translocating them to suitable rivers up and down the country. Our rivers are known as some of the dirtiest in the country. While much of the blame for this lies with sewage treatment, beavers would likely have a fantastic impact on this.
Boki the bear (2 years old) was found to have a condition that I also have. It is known as hydrocephalus, and is caused when the liquid that is found around the brain does not drain away properly. This is often found in infants, but can also occur after a head injury.
When this liquid does not drain, rather than protecting the brain, this liquid squeezes the brain, which apart from being very painful (it usually causes insanity before death, if left untreated in babies) but can take decades to kill naturally.
It seems quite likely, that this bear would have died relatively quickly in the wild, as even if the illness did not kill, it would likely cause different behaviour which would likely have caused more problems.
While it is true that bears have a sweet tooth, which may have contributed to this bears like for it, they are also very intelligent, and may well have been able to connect the idea of feeling better with the medicine that he was taking.
For as long as we have emitted large quantities of carbon the world has absorbed the vast majority – no longer?
Pretty much all models that are trying to predict how much danger we are (on global warming) suggest that all current carbon syncs will continue to work, however, that does not appear to be the case.
We have emitted roughly 1500 giga tonnes of carbon dioxide since the industrial revolution, and the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 3200 giga tonnes. Before this point, there was roughly 2200 giga tonnes in the atmosphere. These numbers suggest that around 1 quarter has been absorbed by the planet (these numbers could well be wrong but are worked out from well known figures).
This suggests that at least 1 quarter of our emissions have been absorbed, which if this study is right, means 1 third more carbon being added each year, if we simply keep our emissions stable or conversely, we need to cut emissions by an extra third to meet our goals, if this holds true.
Given our difficultly cutting emissions so far, this is going to prove hard.
The siamang gibbon live in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, and are one of the most popular for the pet trade, which has led to a great reduction in the wild. Loss of habitat, plantation growing, logging and mining, all threaten this species, so to see species returned to the wild is incredibly good news. The male was very ill when first arrived, but was able to be rehabilitated before release back into the wild.
They started singing on their first day in the wild, which suggests that they were comfortable. They have been followed by a team for 4 months, in order to help show them what to eat, and to make sure that they are able to fend for themselves.
Pet gibbons are often found in tiny cages, where they cannot stretch out. Given their wild behaviour, which tends to find them swinging through the trees, at speeds of up to 35 miles an hour, and jumping up to 13m from tree to tree, being crammed into a small cage, when they can barely move.
The situation is not helped, by few people in their range are aware how endangered they are. Often, when informed the demand for pets disappears. As with many species, the conservation improves as locals know why they need protecting, and how close they are to extinction.
Wild cats avoid areas with wind turbines. This is a fact, which is why it is alarming that this one was given approval, as it is on wild cat land, and is one of the few healthy populations in the country.
Hopefully, this review will be positive, but we will see.
Wild cats are extremely close to extinction in the UK (and Scotland) because of interbreeding with our domestic cats, which are descended from the Asiatic wild cat.
As with virtually all river dolphin species, the Indus river dolphin was seriously endangered, with the total population dropping to just 150 individuals in 1974. It has bounced back to 2000 in the current time.
However, scientists have engaged fishermen as citizen scientists. Spending so much of their life on the river, they encounter the dolphins far more regularly, and as such are able to record where they encounter them. The relationship is bittersweet to be sure, as fishermen and river dolphins are competing for the same resource. Should the river dolphin continue to recover, will there be enough fish left for the fishermen?
Conservationists have been paying the fishermen to take them back to the source of the sighting, thereby helping with the high cost of fuel. While they do compete, it is quite clear that should the dolphins be lost, it is likely that the fish population will suffer (as they have elsewhere). The biggest threat to both communities is the loss of the fish, as a result of lowering water quality. It and its closest relative, the Ganges river dolphin (found in India) split from other cetaceans 24-34million years ago, when they lived in a prehistoric sea.
What is sad, is that it was only recognized as a separate species in 2021, making it one of just 6 freshwater dolphin species.
It is harder to support this species, as both it looks relatively drab (unlike the pink Amazon dolphin) , and does not leap from the water, which does not help it to be as attractive to tourist visitors, never-the-less, there is still a thriving ecotourism industry around this species.
Originally lost in the wild around the start of this millenium, as a result of illegal pet trade, and habitat degradation in Brazil, in 2022, 20 of these birds were released back into the wild. Referred to as “the most successful reintroduction of any parrot I have ever seen” by a leading parrot conservationist.
Unfortunately, the cooperation agreement between the Brazilian government and the German breeding center that holds most of the currently living Spix maccaws, could cause serious problems.
Initially, the idea was for the German breeding centre to supply 20 of these birds each year, so that, within 20 years, 400 birds would have been released, and combined with offspring, we might have reached 700-800, which is the number thought to be required for a species to thrive long-term.
What will happen now? Will we be left with just the 20 already released? Will these two groups make up, and sort things out? Might the 20 breed so well, that they can recover on their own (unlikely)?
A new study has found that around 244 million tonnes of carbon, is stored in the top 10cm of mud on the ocean floors around the UK. This is vast, and by looking after this mud, we are likely to benefit the amount it can store very positively. What is more crazy, is that this mud sequesters another 13 million tonnes each year. The total carbon emissions of the UK is around 406 million tonnes a year, meaning that our sea mud is absorbing more than 3% of the carbon emissions we release. All of the UK trees, are only thought to absorb around 18 million tonnes per year, suggesting that with some work mud may sequester more carbon than trees (and is certainly not far behind. On land soil also sequesters vast amounts of carbon, which is thought to currently store over 4 billion tonnes of carbon, just in the UK.
Finding ways for all of these natural processes to work better (perhaps undoing damage we have done to these things, could greatly increase the carbon caught.
Trawlers which are dragged along the bottom, as well as other disruption of these habitats, allow the carbon out. However, what is clear, is that, while we desperately need the worlds rainforests to stay standing, there are places in our own country, which also store huge amounts of carbon.
